Sims 4 Skills & How to Gain Them
There are so many skills for your sims to learn as they go about their lives. This has been a staple in the sims franchise for years and skills can really improve the quality of yours sims lives.
Skills in The Sims 4 range from very practical things like handiness and cooking, to more specific items like DJ Mixing and Juice Fizzing. The types of skills you learn in the game really depend on your gameplay.
As you gain skills (most range from 1-10 or 1-5 levels) your sim will unlock new abilities, gain new recipes or options, and be able to do the task more successfully. For example, a sim with cooking level 5 will have less of a chance of starting fires than a sim who has level 1.
Ideal Moods for Skills
Since the emotions/mood system was such a big part of The Sims 4 at launch, there were ideal moods for careers that are no longer a thing. However, there are still ideal moods for gaining skills.
Being in the ideal mood will help your sim gain skills more quickly and if it is an output skill (i.e., painting, cooking, etc) you’ll make higher quality items.
The ideal moods for creative skills like painting, cooking, guitar, etc, is inspired. The ideal mood for mental skills like logic is focused. The ideal mood for charisma is confident. It’s a good time!
Reading Skill Books
One option for gaining skills is to read skill books that can be purchased by clicking on the bookshelf and choosing to purchase books. Reading these books can gain your sims skills!
There are 3 skill books for each skill, and you must start with the 1st book. You’ll have to read them in order, and your sim will get very bored if they are reading a skill book that is lower than their current skill, so make sure you’re paying attention to the level of the skill book you’re reading.
Now, it is important to know that skill books are the slowest way to gain a skill. You’re better off actually cooking instead of reading cooking skill books, but if you can’t afford an item you need to gain the skill, these books are a good second option.
Types of Skills
There are a ton of skills in The Sims 4 so these are organized in alphabetical order to make things easy to find and currently updated for The Sims 4: Snowy Escape. Under each skill name you’ll find the pack that the skill comes with, a bit of info about the skill, and a link to the full article for that skill so you can learn more information.
Acting
The acting skill came to the game with The Sims 4: Get Famous and works in conjunction with the acting career. With this skill you can practice in the mirror to get better at acting, perform scenes for tips, and even study different emotions to get better at your craft.
If you want a sim to be a world famous actor or actress in The Sims 4 you’ll need to gain the acting skill, so get started in the mirror and have your sim practice alone before showing their skill in the real world.
Archaeology
The archaeology skill came with The Sims 4: Jungle Adventure and lets your sims discover all sorts of artifacts and relics. They can find dig piles or establish their own excavation sites to find all sorts of goodies.
Baking
The baking skill came to the game with The Sims 4: Get to Work and allows your sims to create beautiful baked goods to consume, or run a bakery to sell for an income. This skill is gained on the cupcake factory machine or the oven in your sims home.
Bowling
The bowling skill came with The Sims 4: Bowling Night Stuff Pack where you can create gorgeous bowling alleys with mid-century modern furniture and get your sims to go bowling as a family.
The bowling skill can be gained by… well, going bowling! It isn’t tied to any careers, so it really just is a fun skill for your sims to gain on a night out, plus you can use different coloured bowling balls to keep it interesting.
Charisma
The charisma skill is a base game skill and a staple to the franchise. Charisma focuses on your sims getting better at social interactions, and practicing speeches in the mirror. As you gain this skill you’ll learn new interactions to do with sims, and even be able to ask them for a loan and you never have to pay it back. This skill is needed for a ton of careers, so it’s just a good one to earn.
Comedy
The comedy skill is entirely about being the life of the party and telling the best jokes. Your sims can earn this skill by doing funny interactions, writing jokes on the computer, or practicing using the microphone. The comedy skill is closely tied to the entertainer career, especially in the comedian branch.
Cooking
Dancing
The dancing skill came to The Sims 4 with Get Together and lets your sims participate in dance battles and show off all of their great moves. Grab a group of friends and head to the clubs to go dance away the night.
DJ Mixing
The DJ Mixing skill was added to the game with The Sims 4: Get Together where you are able to play music at a club for sims in the world and start licensing music to earn an income.
Fabrication
The fabrication skill came to the game with The Sims 4: Eco Lifestyle, a pack dedicated to being more green. With the fabrication skill your sims are going to be able to create candles and create their own fabricated furniture.
Fishing
Fitness
The fitness skill is a skill that came with the base game of The Sims 4 and can be earned in a number of ways. Your sim can earn this skill by using a treadmill, a weight machine, going for jogs, doing push ups, and so much more. There is even an entire stuff pack to give you more options, The Sims 4: Fitness Stuff.
The fitness skill is really closely tied to a few careers so it’s a good skill to earn. This includes the athletic career, the military career, and the astronaut career to name a few.
Flower Arranging
The flower arranging skill came with The Sims 4: Seasons and lets your sims create beautiful flower arrangements to place in your homes or sell for a nice income. These arrangements can be scented to have interesting effects including more life or even death.
Gardening
The gardening skill in The Sims 4 came with the base game and will have your sims spending time in the great outdoors. You can gain this skill by planting different seeds. on your lot, watering and weeding those plants, and making sure that your garden runs smoothly.
This skill is important for the gardener career that came with The Sims 4: Seasons where you can work from home and run your garden and while working.
Gourmet Cooking
Guitar
The guitar skill is a great hobby skill for your sims that came with The Sims 4 base game. Your sims can of course gain this skill by playing any of the guitars in the game and even have the ability to write songs and license them for money.
This skill is important for the entertainer career in the game, especially in the musician branch.
Handiness
The handiness skill came with the base game for The Sims 4 and focuses on crafting objects on the woodworking table as well as repairing and upgrading objects around your home.
This skill is extreme valuable if you want your sims to constantly have positive moodlets because you can add upgrades like a bidet to your toilet that will make your sims extremely happy. This skill is important for the nerd brain aspiration in the game.
Herbalism
Juice Fizzing
The juice fizzing skill came to the game with The Sims 4: Eco Lifestyle and lets your sims make Kombucha, Fizzy Juice, and Grimbucha. It’s a fun hobby skill that can have your sim with a side hustle, or just use the drinks to influence emotions.
Knitting
The knitting skill is a nice hobby skill that came with The Sims 4: Nifty Knitting and allows your sims to create all sorts of beautiful items. Knitting can lead to creating clothing, home decor, toys, and more and the objects are just beautiful.
The knitting skill is a great way to earn money through plopsy, the new selling platform that came with The Sims 4: Nifty Knitting. In addition, knitting is the only skill that transfers to children which is very exciting since they have their own set of skills. A child can be taught to knit, or just have a knitting box in their inventory and learn on their own and these skills will stick when they are a teenager.
Logic
Media Production
The media production skill came with The Sims 4: Get Famous which was released in late 2018. This skill is tied to two new types of media production, creating videos and creating music on the mixmaster music station.
There are only five levels of the skill to be gained, which makes it rather easy to get. Plus, you can earn money through both mixing music and creating videos so it’s a nice hobby or an option to earn a decent income.
Medium
The medium skill came with The Sims 4: Paranormal Stuff which we got in early 2021 and is arguably one of the best stuff packs we’ve ever gotten. With the medium skill we are able to host seances, summon bonehilda, and even get a new paranormal investigator freelance license.
Mischief
Mixology
Painting
The painting skill is a staple skill in The Sims 4 that came with the base game. It is earned by painting on an easel or using the digitalistic sketchpad. You can make a ton of money by selling your paintings in the game, so this is a very lucrative skill for your sims to earn.
This skill is strongly tied to the painter career as well as the critic career in the game. There is also an aspiration that is entirely focused on painting, the painter extraordinaire aspiration that has your sims creating masterpieces.
Parenting
The parenting skill came to the game with The Sims 4: Parenthood and will teach your sims a ton about raising those little rascals. This skill can be earned through doing parenting interactions with your kids. It is earned especially quickly in the baby and toddler phases of life.
Gaining this skill is super important if you want to have a large family, especially since you can enter full parent mode and learn how to use super efficient baby care.
Pet Training
The pet training skill is a fun skill that came with The Sims 4: Cats & Dogs and allows you to teach your sim animals all sorts of new tricks. You can teach your pets to run through an obstacle course, to sit and speak, and so much more.
You are also able to train out misbehaviours like peeing inside, scratching the furniture and waking up your sims.
Photography
Piano
The piano skill is a great hobby skill for your sims that came with The Sims 4 base game. This is a great option for your sim because you can earn money through licensing the songs you have written, or just do it as a nice way to pass the time. Your sims can even mentor other sims in piano to teach them more quickly.
This skill is tied to the entertainer career, specifically the musician branch. It is also an important part of the musical genius aspiration in the game.
Pipe Organ
The pipe organ skill came with The Sims 4: Vampires and is definitely a creepy instrument to learn. Having one of these instruments in a sim’s house definitely changes the vibe and makes it much more creepy.
This skill isn’t tied to any careers, but you are able to write songs on the pipe organ, but I’m not entirely sure why you’d want to!
Programming
The programming skill came with the base game for The Sims 4 and is a great option to earn a bit of extra income on the side. You are ale to hack different things like the Lothario trust fund, create apps or mod video games, and earn income through all of these.
In addition to the extra income you can earn from home, your sims can join in the tech guru career that uses this skill heavily. You can earn the skill on your computer under the programming menu.
Research & Debate
Robotics
Rocket Science
The rocket science skill is a fun, but expensive, skill for your sims to earn from home. This skill is earned by working on a rocket ship and ties heavily into the astronaut career where you can go to space!
The only downfall for this skill is that to earn it quickly, you’ll need to invest in a rocket ship for your back yard. This will set you back 5,000 simoleons just to own the platform, and then another 1,000 to build the basic version, plus upgrades.
Rock Climbing
The rock climbing skill was originally a hidden skill in The Sims 4: Fitness Stuff but now has been added as an official skill with The Sims 4: Snowy Escape where your sims can go on mountain excursions to reach the top.
To gain this skill your sim can either use the fitness stuff rock climbing walls, or head to Mt Komorebi and start going up the various mountain climbing walls around the world.
Selvadoradian Culture
Singing
The singing skill came to the game with The Sims 4: City Living and lets your sims sing karaoke, at random times, or even sing in the shower. Unfortunately, this skill isn’t tied to any careers like becoming a singer or joining a band and doesn’t make you any income.
Skiing
The skiing skill was added to the game with The Sims 4: Snowy Escape and starts your sims off on the bunny slope where they can start gaining the skill. They can eventually go down more advanced parts of the mountain in Mt Komorebi and become extremely strong at skiing.
You are even able to make money with skiing by selling extreme sports videos if you have get famous.
Snowboarding
The snowboarding skill came to the game with The Sims 4: Snowy Escape and lets your sims shred on the mountain but they need to start out on the bunny slopes. Your sims will learn slowly how to snowboard and can learn how to do a few tricks as they go down the mountain.
Vampire Lore
The vampire lore skill was added to the game with of course, The Sims 4: Vampires. This skill can teach vampires or just regular sims all about the world of vampires, as well as how to survive as a vampire.
You can’t earn any income from vampire lore specifically, but it is a really easy skill to earn as there are 15 levels and all you need to do is read the vampire encyclopedia books to earn the skill.
Veterinarian
Video Gaming
The video gaming skill came with the base game of The Sims 4 and is earned on the computer, a video gaming console on the TV, or on the various gaming mats or machines that have been added in DLC.
This skill is tied heavily to the tech guru career and even eventually lets your sims start live streaming or entering video game tournaments to earn a bit of income.
Violin
The violin skill is a base game skill that has your sims playing a fun instrument as a hobby, or as part of the entertainer career if they want to be a musician.
This is a great option for something for your sims to do after work or high school to earn a bit of extra money from writing songs since you are able to license those songs for royalties.
Wellness
The wellness skill came to the game with The Sims 4: Spa Day and incorporates meditation and yoga into the game. Your sims can even learn new recipes and get totally zen!
If you’ve visited any of the hidden worlds (i.e., forgotten grotto or sylvan glade) in the game you can even use meditation to teleport your sim to those locations at any time you want, which is a cool little detail.
Writing
The writing skill is a base game skill in The Sims 4 and is a great option for making money from home. If you work through this skill while also working through the best selling author aspiration your sim will gain a decent amount of money, and some great satisfaction points.
This skill works well with the writer career and is great because you can earn an income from your job, as well as sell your books for royalties to earn extra money.